Over the past five to six years there has been a marked increase in the number of spinal surgeries performed in the United States. One reason for this increase is that the modern lifestyle is, for the most part, sedentary. In particular, the lifestyles of day-to-day workers and even children now revolve around seated activities, such as, for example, watching TV, using computers, playing video games, etc. Indeed, in the office setting the advent of email communication makes face-to-face interaction and movement around the office unnecessary. As a result, many office workers spend the majority of their working day in a seated position.
It is well-established that stresses on the human body are best balanced and borne by the spine when a person is in a standing position. When seated more stress is applied to the spine and particularly the lower lumbar spine. This added stress leads to excessive wear and tear on these lower areas of spine, and increased and early degeneration of spine. Indeed, recent literature reports have indicated that the incidence of back pain in adolescent children is as high as 60%.
To address the rising and chronic spinal degeneration caused by sitting, many companies have introduced chairs that have purported therapeutic orthopaedic benefits. And, indeed, many of these chairs do provide superior back support and improved seating posture. However, while these chairs can improve back posture and position they are passive, that is these chairs support the back such that the seated person is not required to exert the musculature in the back to support their upper bodies. The result is that regardless of how these chairs “support” the back, prolonged use will lead to weakening of the supportive musculature, which in turn means that all of the stress generated by the head, torso and upper extremities will be translated directly to the lower lumber vertebral bodies at their connection to the sacrum.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new class of chair that is functionally dynamic such that the musculature of the back is actively engaged in supporting a person's upper body while in a seated position.